Hand worn bowling aids are well known in the art. These aids are employed to maintain the hand or the fingers in a certain position relative to a bowling ball so as to enable the bowler to release the ball during delivery in a consistent manner.
A typical device of the type referred to above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,190. This prior art device consists of a pad adapted to lie in the palm of the bowler's hand and includes a cup-shaped surface which conformingly engages the ball. A strap secured to the pad surrounds the bowler's hand in order to maintain the pad in place. Although this device is suitable for its intended purpose, it is subject to improvement in several respects. For example, perspiration on the bowler's hand substantially reduces friction between the pad and the palm; this results in slippage between the pad and the palm during release of the ball. Such relative movement between the palm and the pad can affect ball release and is therefore undesirable.
A similar problem of slippage exists between the ball and the ball engaging surface of the pad. This reduces the amount of spin that the bowler can impart the ball and thus limits the bowler's ability to adjust to various lane conditions.
Known prior art devices include means for producing a predefined amount of spacing between the bowler's palm and the ball due to the fact that such spacing affects the control and delivery of the ball. The amount of spacing which is optimal varies according to the size of the bowler's hand, and to some extent, the style of his or her ball delivery. However, none of the prior art devices provide a convenient and simple means of adjusting the spacing so as to achieve optimal results.